![]() October 11, 2002
"The Democratic Party is making an old charge, a false charge, and in this particular brochure, a slanderous charge," Murkowski said. "Democrats have made this false accusation against me in every election since 1980 with no justification for their innuendo. Their attempt to do so again now on behalf of Fran Ulmer demonstrates an appalling lack of integrity, and an embarrassing lack of creativity." According to a information provided by Dan Saddler, Communications Director for the Murkowski for Governor Campaign, the oversized, full-color brochure seeks to blame Murkowski for investment losses by Nome-based Native regional and village corporations in the late 1970s, making an explicit allegation of mismanagement that contradicts the clear facts as available in the public and court record, he said. It also apes the national Democratic Party's current tactic of tarring Republicans with guilt by association with Enron, and by distorting Murkowski's Senate record to imply he supports "corporate greed." "For the Democrats to make such malicious accusations three weeks before the election shows how far they'll go to distract attention from the issues Alaskans really care about: A sound economy, well-paying jobs, no income taxes and a safe and secure Permanent Fund," Murkowski said. "I call on the lieutenant governor to salvage her party's credibility and her integrity by bringing an end to these smears." From 1971 to 1980, Murkowski was president of Alaska National Bank of the North (ANBN), which had managed Bering Strait Native Corporation (BSNC)'s share of cash proceeds from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA). According to information provided by Saddler, in 1974, the bank began managing funds for Nome's village corporation, Sitnasuak, as well. Ignoring the bank's investment advice, Bering Strait began using its ANCSA money as collateral for a series of risky and ultimately doomed investments, including a concrete plant, construction firm, and tire business. Former Alaska Attorney General Charlie Cole, who served as the bank's attorney at the time, said Murkowski was in no way responsible for these losses, and instead tried to steer the corporations away from those schemes and into better investments in the equities market. "In my view, if BSNC had accepted Frank Murkowski's proposal, they would have been fantastically wealthy today," Cole said. "They did not accept it. Instead, the BSNC directors elected to follow an unscrupulous Pied Piper from Lincoln, Nebraska, who advised them to acquire varied businesses throughout the state (that) all went gloriously bankrupt." Murkowski said the attacks levied in the Democrats' brochure ignored pertinent facts on the Alaska National Bank of the North, including that:
"The facts clearly give
the lie to any claim that I was responsible in any way either
for Sitnasuak's investment problems, or for the ultimate closure
of the bank for unrelated reasons eight years after I left,"
Murkowski said. "The political motivations behind raising
these baseless charges at this time are as ignoble as they are
obvious."
"The Democratic Party's
distortions and attacks on me are part of a continuing pattern
of unscrupulous campaigning that I had always hoped we were free
from in our state," Murkowski said. "I am sorry to
see that Fran Ulmer has fallen under the influence of these outside
political operatives who don't know or care about the issues
we face as Alaskans."
Source of News Release:
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